We have all been there. Your child has trouble with homework. Some children deal with it by copying from their friends, some “forget” to turn in their homework, and some will ask you for help. You have a busy life and give them the answers and expect them to catch up in class with some more explanations from the teacher.

Unfortunately, these days the curriculum is very full and by the time they have handed in their homework, the class moves on to the next topic. Although they may score low on the quizzes and tests, their overall grade will remain ok as they will most likely get good grades for their homework thanks to you. This is the way children get slowly behind in math and it may remain unnoticed for too long.

When you hear that your child is struggling with math, please take those first signs seriously and check to see if the problem may come from the forgotten math learning disability Dyscalculia. Early detection gives the most options for successful remediation. Tutoring to keep them up with the curriculum is not the answer. You will need to go back to where the math gaps have been created and then build the math knowledge and understanding up from there.

One way to get started on finding out what really is behind the math troubles your child has, is to go to DyscalculiaScreener.org and use the tools there to do a first check.

Talk to the teacher and see if they have additional information you could use. Talk to your child and explain that doing some checking will only help them with their math troubles eventually.